Three Ways to Enjoy Acorn Squash

I really didn’t plan to include anything cooking-oriented other than meal plans on this blog, but here I am, posting about three ways I used acorn squash . . .on my third post.

Let me just say, I am neither a foodie nor a crafty mom; today is an anomaly at best. Let me also say that, despite my acorn squash adventure this morning, my children did not magically fall in love with squash. I had to bribe them with cheese to get them to eat the squash for lunch.

As for myself, I have never liked the texture of squash and so have avoided it most of my life. Even after preparing it with pride today, I could not make it through more than two bites (it’s a texture thing). Now, don’t fear, I have a husband who will devour it all, as he loves the stuff. So, without further delay, here are the three uses we found for our acorn squash.

1. We received two acorn squash from our CSA last week, and, since I was baking muffins and cookies anyway, I thought I may as well get started on the squash, since it takes over an hour to prepare. So, I cut them in half, only to discover what pretty flower shapes they made.

I had mentioned to the children that we would do an art project, and here it was! I cut two slices from each acorn,

and we used them to make painted flowers with washable kids’ paint. We found it was easiest to cover all the acorn squash not by dipping it but by painting the squash, then pressing it onto the paper. Here are our “masterpieces” (umm, yes, my 6-year old son decided to paint Rapunzel after he finished painting his flower).

3. Then, I rinsed the seeds and removed the stringy flesh from them (a bit tedious, but not half as bad as doing it with delicata squash!), dried them slightly, placed them on a foil-lined baking tray, drizzled olive oil and sprinkled salt, and put it in the oven at 350 degrees with the squash for 15 minutes. I think this recipe works better http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Roasted-Winter-Squash-Seeds/, but I wanted to cook them with the squash, so I compromised. They are a fun, crunchy treat.

As I explained, the squash was not a hit with the first half of the crew, but I think the second half (my husband and two sons, who are at school) will enjoy it more. So, there you go, three uses for acorn squash! Happy Fall!